New York Laws
Article 8 - General Provisions
106-B - Provisions for Governing Sports Facilities Operators and Retail Licenses to Sell at Certain Sporting Events for Consumption on Premises.

(b) Nonalcoholic seating accommodations shall constitute not less than
six percentum of all permanent seating accommodations for a given
sporting event, unless otherwise provided for by this section, and shall
at such level be equally distributed among each separately designated
ticket price area.
2. (a) Every person who operates a facility for the performance of a
sporting event during which alcoholic beverages are sold or otherwise
furnished for consumption on such premises shall establish nonvending
seating accommodations, separate from other seating accommodations
within such premises, wherein the sale or other furnishing of alcoholic
beverages shall not be permitted, but where the consumption of such
alcoholic beverages shall not be prohibited.
(b) Nonvending seating accommodations shall constitute not less than
fifteen percentum of all permanent seating accommodations, in addition
to those seating accommodations segregated pursuant to subdivision one
of this section, and shall be equally distributed among each separately
designated ticket price area.
3. (a) Immediately upon the effective date of this section, each
facility operator shall designate not less than ten percentum of all
non-season ticket seating as either nonalcohol seating accommodations or
nonvending seating accommodations or both, and that such designations
shall thereafter remain in effect up to and until the commencement of
designations pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision, or
designations pursuant to subdivision four of this section.
(b) The establishment of seating accommodations pursuant to
subdivisions one and two of this section may be implemented over a
period of three years from the effective date of this section, and in a
combination of nonalcoholic seating accommodations and nonvending
seating accommodations, that is consistent with the provisions of this
section, provided that
(i) designations of not less than one-third of the total seating
accommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this
section are made within one year of the effective date of this section;
however, such designation up to the first one-third of the total
nonalcohol seating accommodation may be designated in any ticket price
area, and
(ii) designations of an additional one-third of the total seating
accommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this
section are made by January first, nineteen hundred ninety-one; however,
such designation up to the second one-third of the total nonalcohol
seating accommodation may be designated in any ticket price area, and
(iii) designations of a final one-third of the total seating
accommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this
section are made by January first, nineteen hundred ninety-two.
(c) A facility operator may petition the state liquor authority for an
exemption from the provisions of subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of
paragraph (b) hereof as they relate to nonalcohol seating if it can be
shown that the demand for such seating does not exceed the availability
under subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) hereof. The state liquor
authority, in evaluating such petition, shall consider, among other

things, the availability of such seating, the promotion of such seating,
the method of merchandising tickets for such seating, and the location
of such seating sections within the overall seating available in a given
facility. In addition, the state liquor authority shall consider any
voluntarily instituted alcohol reduction plan which includes, but is not
necessarily limited to, the provision of low alcohol beer, the
limitation on the number of servings of alcoholic beverages, or
limitations on the size of such servings.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting facility
operators from relocating designated nonvending or nonalcohol seating
accommodations in each year, provided that each facility maintains the
levels of nonalcohol and nonvending seating accommodations provided for
in this section.
4. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, a
facility operator shall be exempt from the provisions of subdivisions
one, two and three hereof, upon the filing of certification with the
state liquor authority that said operator prohibits the vending of
alcoholic beverages in all seating areas of such facility, and
furthermore provides non-alcohol seating accommodations in not less than
two percentum of the total permanent seating accommodations.
5. (a) For the purposes of preserving order and preventing offenses
against the laws of the state during the course of a sporting event, and
when otherwise authorized pursuant to the provisions of the criminal
procedure law and appropriate local legislation, the trustees or
directors of any corporation acting in the capacity of facility operator
and licensed to do business in New York, may apply from time to time to
the commissioner of police of the municipality within which the facility
is located for the appointment of special patrolmen, who, when
appointed, shall be peace officers with the same powers within such
facility as are set forth in section 2.20 of the criminal procedure law,
whose duty, when appointed, shall be to preserve order within the
facility operated by the applicant corporation, to protect the property
within said facility, with the authority to eject or arrest all persons
who shall be improperly within the facility or who shall be guilty of
disorderly conduct, or who shall neglect or refuse to pay the fees
prescribed by said corporation; and it shall be the further duty of said
special patrolmen, when appointed, to prevent all violations of law and
arrest any and all persons violating such provisions, and to process
such persons in accordance with the criminal procedure law. The
appointment of special patrolmen pursuant to this section shall not
supersede in any way the authority of peace officers or police officers
of the jurisdiction within which such facility is located, nor shall any
patrolmen be deemed by virtue of such employment an employee of said
municipality, or be entitled to any of the benefits arising from such
employment, and such special patrolmen may be terminated by the
commissioner at any time, without assigning cause therefore.
(b) The special patrolmen appointed and approved pursuant to the
provisions of this subdivision shall be the sole responsibility of the
applying corporate entity, and such entity shall indemnify and defend
the municipality for any and all liability arising from the acts or
omissions of such officers. In consideration of their appointment,
special patrolmen shall sign an agreement in writing releasing and
waiving all claim whatsoever against the police department or the
municipality for pay, salary or compensation for their services, or for
any other expenses connected thereto.
6. Each facility operator shall file with the state liquor authority a
plan of compliance with the provisions of this section, including but
not limited to a facility diagram or such other seating program,

indicating ticket price areas designated as nonalcoholic and nonvending
seating accommodations. This plan shall also include a description of
all policies and procedures instituted by the facility operator in
relation to the sale, consumption or limitation of alcoholic beverages.
7. (a) For the purposes of this section, "facility for the performance
of a sporting event" shall include any stadium, arena, ballpark, or
other indoor or outdoor athletic field complex in use during a
professional sporting event, and located within a standard metropolitan
statistical area having a population of one million or more as of the
most current decennial census as conducted by the United States
Department of Commerce, but shall not include facilities owned or
operated by an educational institution.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "facility operator" shall
include the primary tenant of a facility defined in paragraph (a) of
this subdivision. In those situations where the entity responsible for
operation and management of said facility is other than the primary
tenant, the person or persons so responsible shall constitute the
"facility operator." If no facility operator pursuant to this section
can be ascertained, then the facility owner shall also constitute the
facility operator. In any event, the designation of such facility
operator shall be included in all plans of compliance filed pursuant to
subdivision six of this section.
8. The state liquor authority shall promulgate rules and regulations
no later than January first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, that provide
for notification of facility operators of such facilities and sellers of
alcoholic beverages at such facilities of the provisions of this section
and that provide for the conspicuous posting at such facilities notices
informing the public of the provisions of this section, indicating the
nonalcohol and nonvending seating accommodations designated pursuant to
this section, and the penalty for violating this section, and shall
promulgate such other rules and regulations in furtherance of the
provisions of this section.
9. The state liquor authority shall report to the governor and
legislature no later than February first, nineteen hundred ninety-three
on the compliance with the provisions of this section, any and all
administrative or enforcement actions taken under the authority vested
in it by the provisions of this section and the effectiveness of the
provisions of this section in reducing the occurrence of alcohol-related
incidents.
10. (a) Violation by a facility operator of the provisions of this
section or of the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this
section is a misdemeanor.
(b) Violation of any stadium plan enacted pursuant to this section or
the rules and regulations promulgated hereunder is a violation.
11. Severability. If any provision of this section shall be held void
or unconstitutional, all other provisions and all other sanctions not
expressly held to be void or unconstitutional shall continue in full
force and effect.
12. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary,
a facility operator may reduce the total number of seats segregated as
non-alcohol seating as necessary to assure local television broadcast of
a particular sporting event when ninety-nine percent of all other
seating is unavailable, so long as the facility operator, prior to the
commencement of the sporting season, files with the state liquor
authority for a plan of reduction in the consumption of alcoholic
beverages that includes:
(i) restrictions in those areas that were to be segregated as
non-alcohol seating that exceed the limitations on non-vending, but
which do not prohibit the consumption of alcohol in toto;
(ii) the development of additional security personnel in those areas
that were to be segregated as non-alcohol seating, or such other areas
in which persons requesting non-alcohol seating are located; and
(iii) a plan of marketing, promotion, method of merchandising and
location of non-alcoholic seating, and a description of the seats to be
declassified as non-alcohol seats.
(b) The provisions of this subdivision shall apply only in those
instances where a facility is operated with two percent of its seating
segregated as non-alcohol seating in accordance with the provisions of
this section.
(c) In the event that a facility operator invokes the provisions of
this subdivision for its intended purposes, the facility operator shall
notify the state liquor authority at least three days before the
particular sporting event of the utilization of this subdivision, the
time period in which the provisions of this subdivision shall be in
effect, and certify that such utilization is based on the unavailability
of seating in all remaining sections of the facility.
* NB Expired Effective July 1, 1993

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